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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24149749">Wine goes well with salty foods, like cheese.</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/MysaVkt/pseuds/MysaVkt'>MysaVkt</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>GinHiji Week 2020 [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Gintama</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Ancient Greek Religion &amp; Lore Fusion, Alternate Universe - Mythology, Edo Period, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Erections, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Internalized Transphobia, Japanese Culture, M/M, Making Out, Our boy had 3000 years to rediscover himself, Past Abuse, Past Rape/Non-con, Post-War, Recovery, Trans Male Character, War, angst to explain a character's personality, but this is like 80 percent fluff, eating competition between two idiots, only slightly though, running competition between two idiots, this is the fic, two idiots in love, two idiots pining</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 19:15:11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,256</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24149749</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/MysaVkt/pseuds/MysaVkt</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"When his legs finally wavered and he was forced on his knees with the golden blade on his neck, Toshirou did not beg. Instead, he stared at this harbinger of death dead on, looking right into those pools of red. He found that they mirrored his own. They were glinted with the same emptiness and the same acceptance of Atropos’ plans.<br/>When he looked into those eyes, he knew.</p><p><em>They were both the same kind of beast.</em>"</p><p>Or: Gintoki and Toshirou find each other again in an unexpected place, after almost three thousand years. Chaos ensues. (A lot of bickering, fighting and pining follow, as our two boys fall in love).</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hijikata Toshirou/Sakata Gintoki</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>GinHiji Week 2020 [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1742698</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>65</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Wine goes well with salty foods, like cheese.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This has been written for GinHiji week 2020! Day 4: Mythology AU</p><p>Edit(11/11/20): I am not trans, so there may be inaccuracies, but I feel the need to clarify. The character may have been traumatized in the past but that was NOT the reason he rejected a feminine appearance. He has always been male mentally emotionally and in any area that matters, but was simply not able to express this biologically in his time of captivity. </p><p>Note: About the "internalized transphobia" tag. At some point during this fic, some past thought patterns that the character had recovered from return. It may be offensive to some people, but it is brief and relatively mild.<br/>About the "past rape" tag... Well... there is a brief reference to that, but it happened three thousand years ago, so the fic deals with some of the after-effects at some parts. Mostly, it is just relevant to an aspect of a character's personality.</p><p>Some information that is important for understanding this fic...</p><p>Hijikata Toshizo:<br/>Many people watching Gintama should know that our dear Hijikata was inspired from a warrior in the edo period, the vice-commander of the Shinsengumi, Hijikata Toshizo. In this fic, our Toshirou used the alias "Hijikata Toshizo" during the edo period.</p><p>Ares:<br/>Ares is one of the 12 major gods in Greek Mythology. He is the god of war, and is often described as a violent, and/or angry, bloodthirsty warrior.</p><p>Chrysaor:<br/>Chrysaor is the twin brother of Pegasus.<br/>He is represented as a winged wild boar.<br/>The name Chrysaor roughly translates to “golden-blade”.<br/>Mythologically Chrysaor was favored by Ares, the god of war.<br/>In contrast to his white horse-like brother, associated with divinity and purity, Chrysaor emerged as a more aggressive creature.</p><p>Triteia:<br/>Triteia was the daughter of the sea-god Triton and mother, by Ares, of Melanippus who gave to a town in Achaea the name of his mother. Sacrifices were offered there to Ares and Tritaea in the temple of Athena.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Keio 4, 20<sup>th</sup> day of the 4<sup>th</sup> month.</p><p>The troupes were settled at Hakodate.</p><p>Scarred fingers calmly approached each button of the uniform, hardened fingertips brushing against the material. His sword was safely secured at his waist and his belt was fastened.</p><p>Straightening out his jacket, Hijikata Toshirou took a moment to look at his reflection and found his eyes staring back with the intensity befitting the title of “Demon Vice-Commander”. As he stared in his own blue eyes, he knew. Since the moment he woke up this morning, he knew. He had prepared his death letter for his lord, and had accepted his inevitable demise. There was nothing but his debt to Kondou-san keeping him there and a little more than a month had passed since his commander’s death.</p><p>This was going to be his very last battle.</p><p>He had seen the Moirai in his dream, the three figures sitting closely together. The ladies were at a point of undecipherable age, dressed in elegant cloth, Clotho and Lachesis softly murmuring to each other while Atropos sharpened her shears.</p><p>When Atropos was about to place the thread between her blades, he knew.</p><p>Death was nearby.</p>
<hr/><p>The only sound that broke the barrier of the cacophony surrounding Toshirou was the thumping in his ears, the beating of his own heart. Everything in his periphery was stained with blood, and he aimed his sword at the sight of enemy movement, prepared to spill more of the red liquid of life, the red liquid of death.</p><p>Amidst the carnage of the scene he saw a flash of gold and white, a dancing speck of light in the middle of the sea of red. He had heard of Shiroyasha, but never seen him up close. When the man had eliminated all his enemies, he finally turned to Hijikata.</p><p>Even if he was almost 10 meters away, the searing red of his eyes pierced right though the vice-commander, igniting a dread he had only ever felt with anything associated with <em>him. </em>Hijikata knew those eyes. He was aware of who the warrior that was standing before him was. Just as they had three thousand years ago, the man’s lips turned into a smile that was completely out of place. Such gestures did not belong in the battlefield, they did not fit in the playground of death.</p><p>Shiroyasha seemed to understand the recognition in Hijikata and his face was turning into one of feral hunger.</p><p>He barely had any time to unfreeze himself from the shock and lift his sword, before the golden blade clashed with his own. If he had been even half a second slower, his head would be off his shoulders by now.</p><p>No words could be exchanged. The clatter of their swords was deafening, and Hijikata’s eyes had turned to steel, his body flowing like a stream. In the long minutes of their shared dance, narrowly escaping the closing of Atropos’ shears on his lifeline, his skin had begun shimmering with the last rays of sunlight falling on the sheen of sweat.</p><p>When his legs finally wavered and he was forced on his knees with the golden blade on his neck, Toshirou did not beg. Instead, he stared at this harbinger of death dead on, looking right into those pools of red. He found that they mirrored his own. They were glinted with the same emptiness and the same acceptance of Atropos’ plans.</p><p>When he looked into those eyes, he knew.</p><p>They were both the same kind of beast.</p>
<hr/><p>In a different dimension, the sound of shears closing could be heard, but a certain deep blue thread remained intact.</p>
<hr/><p>The next time he opened his eyes, he almost expected for them to greet the sight of river Styx, the sight of lost souls flowing into the underworld. In its place he saw the light blue sky, his feet being licked by occasional waves. He recognized the scent of sea salt and the feeling of sand sticking to his damp hair and uniform. The sea had washed away the blood of his enemies and had catered to his wounds.</p><p>His eyes, being the same color as the deepest of oceans, were glued to the clouds leisurely crossing the sky above his head. His body felt rejuvenated from lying on this shore at the mercy of the crushing waves. Nevertheless, his mind wandered to that piercing red gaze.</p><p>Not only had he not been killed, but he was also dragged near the water, where his injuries were sure to heal. It was so baffling that Toshirou could not make sense out of it.</p><p>He never thought he would be found so quickly- quickly enough for <em>him</em> to send the beast after him. He sat up to glare at the sea, and turned his head to spit at the sand. Now he had to be indebted to the damn boar. Toshirou was annoyed beyond belief.</p><p>He took his pipe out of his uniform’s inner jacket pocket, and gestured for the water that had soaked the tobacco to return to the sea. It obeyed and trickled down the shore, back to the ocean. He did the same for his matches and started puffing through his pipe, leaving little grey clouds of smoke to escape his lips.</p><p>Now that his persona, Hijikata Toshizo, was presumed to be dead and <em>he</em> knew of his location, Toshirou had to move on to a different part of the world. Not dueling on why he was let go by Shiroyasha so easily, he dipped in the water and started on his journey for his next hiding place.</p><p>This time he would not be foolish enough to engage in wars. His debt to Kondou-san had been paid and the next time he saw the silver-haired bastard he was planning to kill him before any insinuation of repaying some absurd life-debt could be made.</p><p>Toshirou was a free man.</p><p>
  <em>Toshirou was a free man haunted by burgundy eyes, silver hair and a golden blade.</em>
</p>
<hr/><p>Toshirou found himself in Japan again years later. Perhaps it was out of weakness that he chose to return, or maybe it was out of exceeding conceit. It was most likely a combination of both.</p><p>He missed his time in Japan and was arrogant enough to think he wouldn’t be caught this time when he took a trip down his precious memories of the Shinsengumi. Whatever the reason for his return, it did not change the fact that he was, indeed, here.</p><p>He entered a restaurant near his temporary residence, and sat down on one of the seats in front of the counter. “Mayonnaise on fried rice” he ordered, and found the tiny traces of mayonnaise on the bowl to be laughable. “May I also have a mayonnaise bottle?”</p><p>“Of course.” The old lady behind the counter smiled gently.</p><p>As he started making his meal more edible, the person next to him grunted “Seconds, please.”</p><p>“Hai, hai.” The old lady acknowledged, and when Hijikata saw the red beans, he stilled. There was only one person in this universe who would eat something this disgusting. Toshirou didn’t turn his head to face him.</p><p>“Hey, princess. How rude of you to ignore me like this.” The silver-head greeted after a little while and Toshirou jolted. He clenched his fists tightly, and tried not to bash the boar’s head in. As much as he would like to do that, ignoring him was better than in this situation, where he didn’t have the territorial advantage.</p><p>He kept eating his fried rice, the meal suddenly tasting like ash in his mouth.</p><p>“Ares doesn’t know you are here, in case you are wondering.” Shiroyasha drawled in a tone matching his dead-fish eyes, and Toshirou’s self-control snapped in half.</p><p>“Do you want to die?!” His blade had already reached that beast’s throat, the surface reflecting his silver tufts of hair, but the boar continued eating like Toshirou did not just threaten to erase his existence. “Don’t ever speak that name again, and never approach me again either.”</p><p>“Uh… um… s-sir? Could you please put down your weapon? I don’t want any trouble in this store.” The old lady from before had paled. Shiroyasha continued to eat that disgusting order of his, and Toshirou felt himself bristle, anger almost boiling over.</p><p>“Yes, of course.” He smiled at her -an expression so faked and exaggerated from intense self-restraint, it was unsettling to look at- as he sheathed his weapon and tossed some coins on the counter before turning to walk out the store.</p><p>“I was here first you know.” The silver-haired man spoke out with a slightly raised voice, to make sure that the awful drawl would reach Toshirou’s ears. The delay in his response to Toshirou’s threat, somehow made him even more insufferable. It was almost like a challenge, one that only fools would accept.</p><p>Toshirou was a fool.</p><p>That is how they ended up in an eating competition of fried rice that lasted way into the night, until they were both so full, they could barely move from their seats. They made it outside to a patch of grass next to the river and lied down, bellies looking about to burst.</p><p>He hadn’t noticed before, but now he could see that Shiroyasha didn’t have his usual golden sword with him. Maybe that was the reason he did not feel threatened by his presence earlier in the day.</p><p>“Chrysaor…” he started, his voice a whisper shooting into the night sky, lost for anyone else but the red-eyed man next to him. “Why?” He asked vaguely, as if hearing his exact doubts with his own voice, would solidify their existence.</p><p>The rest of the question did not need to be uttered.</p><p>There was no answer for a second, but then almost reflexively, and a bit too rushed that distinguishable drawl traveled through the air. “Why did I win? That’s obvious-”</p><p>“I didn’t mean that, you stupid boar!” He snapped back like a long forsaken habit.</p><p>“If I am a stupid boar then what does that make you, fish-bum?”</p><p>“Who are you calling a fish-bum? Do you want to die?!” He was about to reach for his blade again, but halted his movements, realizing what Chrysaor was trying to achieve. “You know full well what I meant.” Toshirou stated more calmly than before, voice almost uncharacteristically quiet, “Don’t go changing the subject now, bastard.”</p><p>The silver-head next to him turned to face him and he could finally see those burgundy eyes again. They were the same shade as the wine warriors chugged down and philosophers of the past watered –enough to make their symposiums last for days-, they were the same shade that blood acquired after it dried. They were the same eyes he had seen in that battlefield a few years ago, the same he had first seen three thousand years ago when the boar had been introduced to him as Chrysaor, the warrior born from Medusa’s cut neck, brother of Pegasus.</p><p>He had always thought it was ironic that a silver-haired warrior was named after his golden sword. As they were both lying on the grass, that golden sword that had almost cut off Toshirou’s head was nowhere in sight, he was not wearing his usual armor, but a white keikogi, curly hair in disarray.</p><p>The atmosphere had taken on a peculiar nuance, one that he could only trace in his memory once before, standing in his garden, long ebony hair being swept in the wind. ‘<em>Are you happy here?</em>’ a voice had asked him back then.</p><p>The same voice now reached his ears from a much closer distance. “Are you asking me why I didn’t kill you, or to tell you the reason I didn’t hand you over to the god of war?” Shiroyasha inquired as his eyes pierced right through him. Wine clashed with the ocean, fighting a meaningless battle of dominance.</p><p>“Both.” Toshirou eventually rasped out, feeling like the silver glint before him was out of reach, but so -<em>so</em>- close.</p><p>The silver-head beside him suddenly sat up, looking down at Toshirou, a soft smile crossing his features “Why don’t you figure that out for yourself, Triteia?”</p><p>Toshirou’s blood rushed to his head, that cursed name echoing in his ears in a voice different from that of the person next to him, the phantom feeling of gentle caresses and scorching pain came alongside it. The next moment he gained awareness of where he was and what he was doing, he was pinning Chrysaor to the ground, his blade on his neck for the second time that night. Toshirou’s lungs burned, and his breaths came in rugged panting. The hands holding the blade to the beast’s neck were shaking from his sheer rage, eyes reflecting all the cruelty he could muster into a steely glare.</p><p>“That name is dead. That <em>woman</em> never existed.” He growled while still almost stranding the waist of the burgundy-eyed bastard. “Do you understand?” The unsaid threat was dripping down his voice, like warm honey mixed with something much darker- something dangerous.</p><p>“You never told me what name you go by now, though.” he reasoned –he had a blade on his throat and he dared to fucking talk back at him. Those dead-fish eyes, however, held no judgement, which quelled the fire of Toshirou’s rage.</p><p>His eye was twitching, but he eventually replied with a quick “It’s Toshirou” under his breath.</p><p>Shiroyasha spent a long moment just evaluating him with his stare. “That suits you a lot better.” He declared, and Toshirou’s eyes widened. He was so stunned, that his grip on the blade loosened enough for the sword to be knocked out of his hand. The tables were turned, as he was pinned down on the ground with a groan. “But you should at least wait until the second date to impale someone with your sword, <em>Toshi.</em>” He murmured teasingly in his ear. He could practically hear the wide smirk in his voice.</p><p>Shock was quickly replaced by something much more poisonous. It wasn’t something Toshirou could identify, but it twisted his stomach and burned his guts.</p><p>“Who are you calling Toshi, you idiot?!” He kicked him right into the river, before the blush dusting his cheeks could be discovered.</p>
<hr/><p>In the weeks that followed that encounter, plenty of others ensued.</p><p>He would see Shiroyasha, chasing cats around the city, or up on roofs replacing old, broken tiles. After much bickering and fighting, he eventually discovered that Shiroyasha –going by the alias of Gintoki- was there to stay, but Toshirou could still not wrap his head around what the legendary warrior found so interesting in living in this small decrepit old town, in the middle of nowhere, performing various chores for a barely respectable pay.</p><p>If he wanted to kill or report Toshirou to <em>him</em>, though, he would have done it that day on the battlefield. Therefore, Toshirou chose to ignore his presence, and live his peaceful life under the fake name of Kawahara Toshiyuki. Eventually, the bastard would get tired of all this and fuck off, as he should.</p><p>Months passed and Gintoki notably didn’t ‘fuck off’. In fact, he kept reaching out to him beyond all rationality (“Wanna try out this sake with me?” or “I found this place by the sea…”) making Toshirou more and more annoyed.</p><p><em>‘Just what is this boar, Chrysaor, plotting?’ </em>Toshirou found himself thinking deep into the night, while looking at the clear, starry, summer sky.</p><p>Before he had realized it, he had gotten accustomed to the company of that beast, to always being able to trace that silver-haired head in the corner of his eyes. Hence, when that red-eyed boar didn’t visit him for an entire day he felt slightly unsettled. He could feel that familiar churning in his gut, his instincts tingling relentlessly.</p><p>Something was wrong. Something was seriously wrong. Toshirou should run away from this town. He should, he really should.</p><p>Where his legs led him instead was Gintoki’s –Chrysaor’s- shabby, little hut. It was slightly outside of the small town, far out enough so that no one was in the immediate area for a dozen hundred meters. Toshirou had only been here once before, on the way back from one of Gintoki’s crazy suggestions – that time that suggestion had been practicing on using the bow. They had followed the road and went to one of the fields nearby. It was empty besides the two of them and the golden blades of wheat that grew in the area.</p><p>As Toshirou approached that same field now, the foreboding feeling only grew stronger. He reached the hut, only to find it empty, but the silent buzz of conversation could be heard, and only got clearer as he pressed himself to the wall facing the entrance.</p><p>“-nothing here.” After months of spending time with Shiroyasha, he had come to recognize his speech patterns. He recognized Gintoki’s bored drawl, and wondered what kind of person would make him imbue a shred of forced casualty in his tone. It was almost painful for Toshirou to hear.</p><p>“I know you are hiding something, Chrysaor.” The other voice washed over Toshirou like a bucket of cold water. What was <em>he</em> doing here?! A surge of panic overwhelmed him at the rumble of that familiar voice, memories of the past breaking through the surface of his consciousness.</p><p>
  <em>‘My sweet little princess’. A purr.</em>
</p><p>It couldn’t be true.</p><p>
  <em>‘My dear’. Like a warning rumble of lightning in the distance.</em>
</p><p><em>He </em>couldn’t be here, not right now.</p><p>
  <em>‘Look how beautiful you are, forever chained to my side.’ A hand covering his swollen abdomen. ‘You are mine.’</em>
</p><p>Gintoki wouldn’t betray him.</p><p>
  <em>‘Look at you shaking, darling’. Blood dripping onto pure white fabric. ‘Why do you refuse to open your eyes, every time I take what’s mine?’ A hand grabbing his long black strands of hair and pulling. ‘Look at me, Triteia!’</em>
</p><p>Toshirou slid down the wall he was leaning on and hugged his weak knees close to his chest, taking slow, measured breaths. This wasn’t a moment for panic. Toshirou wasn’t feeling particularly strong, but he knew one thing for certain.</p><p>He would never let himself get caught by that god alive.</p><p>Never again would he let Ares have his way, again.</p><p>“You handed over your golden sword, speaking of foolish nonsense like resigning from being the warrior you were born to be, and you expected me to approve of that?” That deep foul poison of a voice, burned through Toshirou like acid. He recognized that tone. That kind of taunting was often directed towards himself in the past. “I thought you would have changed your mind by now, running back to me with your tail between your legs, but you surpassed all expectations, yet again. Just how long will it take for you to get tired of this pointless game of life?”</p><p>“I have no obligation to report to you or explain myself. I was never your subordinate. I merely announced my intentions to you out of respect for our long-standing mutually beneficial transactions.” Toshirou could hardly believe that Gintoki even had the capacity of letting even anything close to sophisticated escape his lips, and here he was, speaking as formally as a scholar, nonetheless.</p><p>There was a pause, and Toshirou could imagine the ferocity in the War god’s eyes at being defied like he was, as his anger was radiating in ominous waves and permeating air itself. “Do you take me for a fool? Your last mission was to find Triteia.” Toshirou stilled at the name. “You spent more than 10 years supposedly searching and then came up one day saying that our deal was annulled. You think that I don’t know that those two events are related?” Toshirou heard the sound of wheat being trampled from the force of heavy boots. “Where is that traitorous snake?”</p><p>“As I said before... I have no interest in women or snakes.” Gintoki drawled, and Toshirou pictured him picking a booger off his nose. It almost made him smile. “It’s a widely known fact that I only enjoy the company of men. Even if I did fall for anyone’s charm and left the war business, I can assure you that, as much as I can tell, that woman is long dead. Couldn’t find any trace of her.”</p><p>“Is that so?”</p><p>“You can consider the case to be closed, just like I reported years ago. Why are you dragging up dealings that belong in History?”</p><p>A long time of silence followed, in which the two men on the other side of the wall were sure to have been having a duel with their stares alone.</p><p>“Hm… maybe it would be better to leave this behind us.” The god of war concluded. “Enjoy this little holiday of yours.”</p><p>“This is retirement, sir. We are strangers from today onwards.”</p><p>“So be it, wild boar.” That god-awful voice sounded so damn satisfied that Toshirou’s hand clenched just a little bit harder on the handle of his katana, but then the imposing presence was gone and he could breathe without restraint again.</p><p>That day, Toshirou was gone before Gintoki could enter the hut and returned to his own residence, closer to the center of the small town, his shadow lengthening as the sun dipped lower and lower into the horizon washing him with an orange light.</p><p>He spent the night turning in his sleep plagued by the memories he had long hidden in the deepest orifices of his mind. The long, long time he spent pretending to be someone he was not, when his long hair was tied in complicated braids, garnered with heavy, priceless jewels, and his long chiton reached his ankles. He dreamed of Melanippus when he was still a young little boy, barely reaching his waist, calling him <em>‘μήτηρ’</em>. He dreamed of the walls of that castle he was trapped in for centuries, his mind rotting away, movements becoming sluggish from the weight of the man that held him tightly, fell heavily on his shoulders, and refused to let him go.</p><p>If the next morning he still looked a little shaken and if his skin was pale, Gintoki didn’t mention it.</p>
<hr/><p>On one of their routine adventures –which Toshirou still preferred to call ‘Gintoki’s childish nonsense’-, they found themselves racing up the steep hills of a mountain.</p><p>“Are all fish so damn slow outside of water?” Gintoki taunted, even though he was only one step, <em>one step, </em>in front of Toshirou.</p><p>“What did you say, you slowpoke?! Aren’t winged creatures supposed to be faster on land? Why are you losing to a so called <em>fish</em>, then?” Toshirou ran right beside him and sprinted faster.</p><p>“Oi! Boars are naturally heavier! You have no excuse!” Gintoki grunted in a fit.</p><p>“That doesn’t even make sense, when there are wings involved!!!” he exploded as they reached the top.</p><p>“Oh yeah? Then why don’t we see who is better running downhill?”</p><p>“You are just a sore loser!”</p><p>“Go!”</p><p>“Hey! You didn’t even count, you damn cheat! Come back here!”</p><p>After running up and down the same mountain for a few times, they decided to call it a tie and rested on the top, while watching the expense of land below them. The clouds seemed so much closer from there, yet as untouchable as ever. Both of their breaths came in short pants and their shoulders almost touched from the proximity.</p><p>“You never ended up telling me why you didn’t just kill me on that battlefield.” Toshirou broke the comfortable silence. He had never breached this topic after their first meeting in this lonely town. Gintoki just continued to stare in the distance, messy, silver strands of hair drifting with the wind.</p><p>Nothing was said for a long time, so long that Toshirou was about to repeat the question, when burgundy eyes suddenly met his own. “I was sent to find a traitorous sea goddess, and simply discovered that such a person never existed in the first place.” He paused. “I know you were listening to my conversation with Ares.” Toshirou tensed, “Every word I said back then was true.”</p><p>“I am still alive though,” he eventually whispered back, so softly as if he was afraid to break this moment of vulnerability.</p><p>“You were always Toshirou, even when you had the appearance of a woman.” Gintoki ran a hand through his own curls and shifted to look at the horizon once again, “Your eyes were always that of a man, from the very first time I saw you. Someone who never existed might as well be dead” he explained.</p><p>Toshirou’s palms were starting to get sweaty, as his heart beat wildly in his chest. He was dying. Yes. That was the only possible explanation from what was happening to him. “I am going back” he swiftly declared as he got on to his feet and turned to go back down the mountain. He didn’t go far, before a hand grabbed his arm from behind. For a moment his mind became blank and his body moved on its own. When opened his eyes, not even having realized he had closed them, he saw Gintoki groaning on the ground before him, Toshirou’s hand still gripping at his arm from when he likely flipped Gintoki over. “Don’t just grab people, asshole. Haven’t you heard of personal space?” he managed to say in the end, still breathless.</p><p>“You didn’t have to flip me over!” He whined like a child, while he rubbed at his shoulder. “I just wanted to talk to you.” He pouted- he freaking <em>pouted.</em></p><p>Toshirou’s eye twitched at his ministrations, fingers twitching to get a hold on the pipe he left at home. “Then fucking speak!”</p><p>He slowly got on his own two feet and stood right before Toshirou. His gaze, that red cluster of wine drops, moved between Toshirou and the horizon, mouth opening and closing.</p><p><em>“He is the one I should start calling fish, from now on.” </em>Toshirou thought, as he watched a full grown adult, millennia old struggle to be coherent. Even though he had the fluency of a scholar when he spoke to the god of war, in front of Toshirou his verbal abilities were that of a toddler raised by wolves. The contrast between those sides of Gintoki seemed so amusing to him that he couldn’t help but smile and start walking again. “When you find what you wanted to talk to me about, just do it, idiot.”</p><p>When the distance between them increased to about ten steps, he heard a rushed “Wait!” and instead of letting his grin grow wider, he schooled his expression and turned around to face him. “Have you finally grown a brain in that empty head of yours?” Toshirou teased.</p><p>Instead of the usual comeback Toshirou would expect from him though, he saw Gintoki’s entire face turn to a deep shade of red, from his cheeks to the tips of his ears. Toshirou was so shocked that he almost missed what was uttered next. “Will… will you go drink with me?”</p><p>“Don’t you drag me out for sake, every other day?”</p><p>“Ne.. and am..- sia…” Gintoki’s whisper was so quiet that even with his divine slightly heightened senses, he couldn’t make out what came out of his mouth. Toshirou frowned, the crease between his eyebrows becoming deeper than usual. “<em>What could possibly make the loud and confident Chrysaor stumble on his own words like that?” </em>he started to worry that something was seriously wrong.</p><p><em>“Could it be that we have been found? Or is Chrysaor leaving, perhaps?”</em> His heart sank down to his stomach at the thought of Gintoki being absent from his life. Why was he so upset about this? He didn’t care about what this idiot did with his life. Nothing was keeping him in this small, boring town.</p><p>In a moment of pure madness and panic, Toshirou used his power to appear in the ocean. Surrounded by the cool dark water, he had a moment to clear up his mind and realize what had just happened. He hadn’t even heard what Gintoki wanted to say and he had just blipped out of there without a word. What was he so afraid of hearing? That Chrysaor would leave him?</p><p>That wasn’t anything new. It was only natural that Gintoki would leave one day. He was just amusing himself with Toshirou’s presence on a whim all this time. It’s not like Toshirou was very fun to be around anyways, his mind a creaking mess, his hands stained with the blood of war, stripped of all femininity he used to pretend to have.</p><p>He did not regret his decisions, no matter how unconventional they may have been for a “woman”- he still hated to refer to himself with this term others had used for him. Toshirou had accepted all these aspects of himself along with the prospect of eternal solitude, so why was he wavering now?</p><p>He just had to put on his usual sour face and go bid Gintoki goodbye. It wasn’t that difficult -even if his heart throbbed and his legs felt heavy.</p><p>He made his way towards the shore, emptying his mind in the process, his thoughts now serving as white noise in his ears. When his upper body was finally exposed to the air again, he didn’t even think to expel the water from his clothing. He remained soaked in salt. That way, he didn’t have to acknowledge any possible drops that may have leaked from his eyes.</p>
<hr/><p>For the next few days, he may or may not have avoided Gintoki. No one had any proof to back up either stance, and it would remain that way. It’s not that Toshirou didn’t want to face him… he was just busy. Yes.</p><p>If that idiot decided to leave all on his own, while Toshirou was <strike>avoiding him  </strike>busy, the sea-deity couldn’t be blamed for it.</p><p>His plan was spectacularly crashed on the third day of <em>not</em> avoiding Gintoki, by none other than Gintoki himself.</p><p>The silver-head refused to accept any of his <em>not</em> excuses and followed him around all day long. Toshirou fought a gang of thieves that was causing trouble for the farmers on the outskirts of the town? Gintoki was there to assist. Toshirou was called by the old men of the town to sit with them and drink some sake? Gintoki was there to hang out as well. Toshirou helped an old lady carry her groceries to her house? Gintoki was there to grab half of it and walk with them and even chat happily with the gossipy old lady.</p><p>He started to get really pissed off when Toshirou announced he would go hunting and Gintoki ran in the woods and returned 10 minutes later with two rabbits in his hand.</p><p>“What the fuck do you think you are doing?!” Toshirou’s gates came crashing down and there was no stopping the flood that followed.</p><p>“Hm? I am cooking the rabbits,” came the nonchalant response.</p><p>“You’ve been following me around all day!”</p><p>“I wouldn’t have to if you didn’t avoid me for two days!”</p><p>“Why would I avoid someone like you? I’ve been busy!”</p><p>“That’s all bullshit and you know it, Toshirou!”</p><p>He faltered a little at the sound of his real name, but he quickly retaliated. “What makes you so damn sure, smartass?!”</p><p>“Going to collect herbs? Your stock was filled four days ago! Going <em>fishing</em>? You don’t even eat fish!” Gintoki yelled in exasperation “Your excuses are getting more and more ridiculous! You disappeared from the mountain three days ago, without even letting me finish what I had to say, and you went off to make your own conclusions. Don’t you think I know that?” He closed the distance between them more and more with each sentence until their noses were almost touching, eyes of blood clashing with eyes of the ocean, breaths mixing and becoming one.</p><p>From this close, Toshirou could see the tiny darker specks that were found on Gintoki’s irises, almost like tiny polka dots decorating the burgundy rings. If Gintoki was going to leave, then this was his only chance Toshirou decided in another flash of irrationality that was brought on by his beating heart. He grabbed the white fabric of Gintoki’s keikogi and pulled him, so that his lips could meet his own.</p><p>He was surprised when he felt Gintoki reciprocating his desperate advances with equally rushed movements. The kiss was full of passion and teeth and pent up anger that had flooded Toshirou’s very soul. It was a far call from the careful caresses he had received in the past, treated like something fragile and fleeting. Now, he was matched like a force of equal strength, in a way that reminded Toshirou of the time they had met in the battlefield all those years ago, when he was still under the name of Hijikata Toshizo.</p><p>He pushed Gintoki towards the wall with enough power to create a loud noise of retaliation from the wood, but their lips never separated from each other. He felt Gintoki’s hands grab his thighs as he was lifted off the floor, his legs slotted at either side of Gintoki’s waist. Gintoki’s back was still pressed against the wall, his hips now moving slightly to fit Toshirou’s legs behind him. Toshirou wrapped his arms around Gintoki’s neck, to not lose his balance. Only when he felt the outline of Gintoki’s hard-on through his clothes, making direct contact with his own, did he shudder and break the kiss to rest his head on Gintoki’s shoulder. He felt Gintoki’s lips against his ear. “So you <em>do</em> have one of those too…” He whispered teasingly, and Toshirou just smacked him, freeing his legs from his grip and stepping on the ground again.</p><p>“It’s called shape shifting, bastard.” He chided, but there was no fire left in his words. All of his anger had flowed out of him through his lips. “If you like me in that way, you could have just told me, stupid boar.” He continued after his breathing regained a normal rhythm.</p><p>“I tried! What do you think I was trying to say when we were on that mountain?!” The silver-head countered, voice rising in pitch as he complained. “I was trying to ask you to drink nectar and eat ambrosia with me!” He blurted thoughtlessly, and when he realized what he had just done, his face turned the same shade of red as it had three days ago.</p><p>Many myths had been shared with the mortals, so it was known that gods and divine beasts feasted on nectar and ambrosia. What had been kept like a commonly-known whispered secret, were the implications that the activity entailed. Nectar and Ambrosia were only shared between close family members and life-partners. It was a statement of intimacy and vulnerability, an oath of trust, a sign of courtship.</p><p>Had Gintoki really been meaning to propose to him like that? They had been in the company of one another for a few months now. That was not nearly enough time for showing such commitment. However, as his mind drifted to his memories of these past few months, an undeniable constant was always present at his happiest moments. He wondered how he would live his life, without sharing it with this insufferable idiot. His mind drifted to how dull, and almost meaningless he had found the three thousand years after leaving that castle to be.</p><p>He even mentally visited his time of captivity, and found that the days of Chrysaor’s visits were what had slowly helped him build up the courage to leave the restrictions of those walls. The words that had been shared between them in that garden, before he had found the spell of the door conveniently loosened that same night:</p><p>
  <em>‘Are you happy here?’</em>
</p><p>He hadn’t answered, but his dull, clouded, blue eyes had held all the answers that Chrysaor needed that day.</p><p>Toshirou had never mentioned it since. It was an unspoken truth, a secret shared only between the two of them, a detail that Toshirou had missed in the wave of relief that had accompanied his escape. Now that he was clearly looking back, it was obvious that he would have never made it out of that castle after his son’s death, not without someone assisting him from the shadows.</p><p>He concluded that three thousand years of affection and loneliness, and dreams of burgundy eyes and silver hair, were enough to answer the question of how Toshirou wanted to live from now on.</p><p>He smiled at Gintoki, a smile softest than the clouds he was trying to reach from that mountaintop. “I would be honored to drink nectar and eat ambrosia with you, idiot” he replied.</p><p>The kiss that followed was devoid of the fire that had burned through them both a few minutes ago. Instead, it was as soft as thousands of unsaid words, and salty from tears of happiness that rolled down their faces. That kiss was an oath, an apology, and a promise. Feeling Gintoki’s wide smile on his lips, Toshirou knew.</p><p>He knew that this was how it was always meant to be.</p>
<hr/><p>Somewhere, in a distant realm, Atropos smiled as she handed over that same blue thread to her giggling sisters and watched it being joined with a pure white one in the hands of the three Moirai.</p><p>Another fate had been sealed.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I want to give my special thanks to my darling beta-reader!.<br/>Thanks for being so amazing!<br/>Fan Fact: The title is a reference to Gintoki's eyes (Wine) and Toshirou being a sea-god (salty food)</p><p>Fan Fact #2: Toshiyuki, the name that Toshirou chose after the "death" of Hijikata Toshizo and his official reunion with Gintoki, actually means "clever and happy". :)</p><p>Fan Fact #3: "Keio 4, 20th day of the 4th month" is written in the Japanese way of documenting dates of various events. I tried to convert the date "June 20th, 1889" (which is the date of Hijikata Toshizo's death in real life) into this format. I have't done this before, so if I did it wrong, feel free to correct me on this.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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